A Tale of Two States

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity..."

Yes, Charles Dickens and his Tale of Two Cities. Here's a story many of you might have missed. "A Tale of Two States."

First the positive story.

Punjab is governed by an  'Opposition' party. The CM vowed not one grain of wheat would be wasted in the Khariff crop. So, Punjab and the Central Government worked in tandem to harvest the crop. You probably know that Punjab contributes 35% of our wheat. 

Usual seasonal migrant labour was missing due to the COVID19 lockdown. To compensate, people under MNREGA were mobilised by the Centre. Fleets of combined harvesters were mobilised and escorted in convoys from elsewhere to the Punjab's fields. FCI was mobilised. 2000 odd additional mandis were created to reduce crowding and improve social distancing. The Centre controlled Para-military forces worked with the local police to control the convoys of thousands of  trucks and tractors carrying wheat from fields to mandi / aarat and beyond to godowns. Harvesting started on 15th April and still continuing. They are actually lighting up the fields at night to allow harvesting on 24x7 basis. The focus is to quickly complete harvesting and disband the workforce to reduce chances of the disease to spread.

Net result.  In 2019, Punjab harvested 1.3 Million Tonnes (MT) all through April. Some more in May. This year, from 15-26 April 2020 ie, in 9 days alone, Punjab has harvested 2.8 MT. Stunning! Not only that, Punjab would have the all time high record wheat production this year. 

FCI is present at all the mandis and aarats, procuring and paying immediately for the wheat as it is coming in, putting money in the farmers' hands, encouraging them to harvest even more quickly. 

The story doesn't end there. Punjab Government is working with the FCI and the Indian Railways to simultaneously take the grain away from Punjab as there's no place to store all the grain in Punjab itself. 

So, the Indian Railways have created special Annapoorna Trains. Each train is an amazing 2.4 km long, comprising 84 wagons with multiple engines and radio communication between the drivers and the guardsmen. Best of Indian Railway drivers and guardsmen from the Shatabdis and Rajdhanis are operating the Annapoorna Trains. These trains are taking all the wheat from Punjab to FCI godowns around the country.  

In April 2019, Indian Railways transported some 2 MTs of food grains. This April (2020), they have already crossed 4 MT by 25th of April.

All of the above is being managed by Special Teams comprising of DMs, SPs Para-Military, Indian Railway and  FCI under the overall supervision of the MHA. Brilliant example of amazing achievement if  State and Centre work together.

But this is a Tale of Two States. 

See what's happening in West Bengal. The only topic that all the four Bangla news channels have been covering for the last few days is State v/s Centre fights. CM's 3 page letter, followed by Governor's 5 page letter, followed by CM's 7 page letter, followed by Governor's 11 page letter. Whether the Constitution is being upheld etc, etc. Utter crap.

Is there any news of how and when the Khariff crops in Bengal would be harvested? Any news of the Khariff potato, onion, rice and mustard harvesting? Any news about their procurement and sale? Any report on how to put money in the hands of the farmers? I couldn't find any.

It seems, the entire world has forgotten the Bengal farmers.